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Friends

BY Robbie H. Lawton

FICTION WRITER'S SHOWCASE
The entries flooded in from all over the country, swamping our panel of
judges with hundreds of short stories. We enjoyed reading all of them, and a
few really caught our imaginations. The winning entry came from Robbie
Lawton of Abbeville, South Carolina, and is printed below. Second place went
to Jeffrey Paris of Cromwell, Connecticut, and our third place entry was
written by Niem Tram of San Jose, California. Congratulations, Power
Writers.

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"Jason, lunch is ready." Jason heard his mother's voice. She sounded like
she was in another world. Actually, to him she was. He was inside the TV
with Link, being shot at by the Moblins, and his mother was in the safe,
cozy kitchen. Jason pulled his way out of the TV and stood for a moment,
watching Link fight the Moblins alone. Jason sighed, put Zelda on save, and
went to the kitchen.

Another peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he groaned. Why did parents assume
all kids loved peanut butter and jelly?

"How's the game coming?" Mom asked as she sat the ever present sandwich in
front of him.

"OK, I guess. Me and Link..."

"Link and I," corrected his mother.

"Link and I can't seem to find the entrance to Labyrinth Seven," said Jason,
biting into the sandwich.

"What was the clue for Level Seven?" asked Mom.

"The old man said something about where fairies don't live. But Mom, that
could be anywhere. There are lots of places where fairies don't live. Link
can't figure it out either. We have thought and thought about it, but we
just can't come up with the answer."

Jason stuffed half the sandwich into his mouth and started to get up from
the table with his milk in his hand.

"Drink your milk at the table."

"Ahh, Mom, can't I drink it in my room?" groaned Jason.

"No ahh's, drink it at the table." Jason sat back down and finished his
milk. "Can I go now? Link's waiting for me."

"Jason, Link is only an imaginary character. Sometimes the way you talk
about him makes me think he's the boy next door. It's just a game, Jason.
You shouldn't take this so seriously."

"Yeah, I know, Mom." Jason got up from the table and returned to his room.
Well, mothers don't know everything. Of course, Link was real. Jason talked
to him every day. He turned Zelda on, and after a few seconds, he climbed
inside with Link.

"Hi Jace, what did we have for lunch? No, never mind. Let me guess. Was it
peanut butter and jelly?" Link asked.

"How did you guess?" Jason handed the remaining half of his sandwich to
Link. "Sorry, no milk today. Mom made me drink it at the table."

"That's all right," said Link, swallowing a mouthful of peanut butter and
jelly. "We can go to the lake and I'll get some water."

As they walked, they talked about how hard it was to find the Seventh
Labyrinth. More intent on the conversation than where they were going, they
took a wrong turn and ended up in the Lost Woods. They walked for over an
hour without finding their way out.

"Jason, if I don't find some water soon, your Mom's peanut butter is going
to choke me," Link said.

"Let's go this way, Link. I don't think we've been through here." As they
came out on the other side of the trees, they saw the Moblins. Further up
they discovered a path.

"That looks like where the fairy lives. She has water. Come on, Jace. Let's
make a run for it."

They started to run towards the path. One of the Moblins shot an arrow that
wizzed by Jason's head. It came so close he felt to make sure the hair was
still connected to his head.

"You OK, Jason?" asked Link.

"Yeah," he replied, "but that was close. Too close!"

They stepped into the path entrance and found the lake. But instead of
finding the Fairy, a Moblin stood ready to strike. Link quickly pulled out a
knife and threw it at the Moblin. Stumbling back, the Moblin recovered and
started coming towards them again. Jason pulled his knife and threw it. This
time it did the trick, and the creature was history.

"Look, a blue jewel! Get it, Link."

Link went over and picked it up. He pulled his bag off his back and put the
jewel inside. Setting the bag on the ground, he went to the lake to get some
much needed water.

Jason, exhausted from all the walking, dropped down on the ground beside the
backpack. After Link quenched his thirst, he came back and fell down next to
him.

They both lay there resting without speaking for a while. Each was lost in
his own thoughts, trying desperately to figure out the riddle of the Seventh
Labyrinth. They had six pieces of the Triforce. Only two more and they could
find Princess Zelda and Ganon. But first they had to have the completed
Triforce, and they couldn't do that without finding Level Seven.

Frustrated, Link turned to Jason, "I just can't figure it out, Jace. We have
looked everywhere. I don't know what else to do. My mind is turning into
jelly just thinking about it." 

"You know, Link," Jason said sitting up, "sometimes when I have a test at
school that I have to study real hard for, my mind starts getting crazy with
all the answers running around inside. So I listen to music, and it helps me
to think more clearly. My mom says I'm crazy, but it really does work. It
sort of relaxes you. We don't have my stereo out here with us, but we could
hum, or whistle, or something."

"Hey Jace, we do have a whistle, you know. We could use it," Link said. "But
we would have to watch out for the whirlwind every time we played it. What
do you say, let's try it." Link reached inside the backpack, pulling out the
shiny whistle they had obtained in Level Five.

"Link, since the whirlwind comes to the sound of the whistle, why don't I go
to the other side of the lake and play the whistle for you, so you can try
to concentrate on finding the labyrinth instead of having to constantly step
out of the whirlwind's way," Jason said.

"Okay. I'll try it first and then you can have a go at it if I come up
blank." Link handed the whistle to Jason. He took it and walked to the other
side of the lake.

"Ready, Link?" Jason blew the whistle, then stepped back out of the
whirlwind's path. As the whirlwind roared by, an amazing thing happened. The
water in the lake slowly disappeared, right before their eyes. Neither Link
nor Jason could take their eyes off the magnificent sight. When all the
water had vanished, they found steps where the lake once settled. At first
both Jason and Link were too stunned to speak. Then they both raised their
eyes at the same moment, and stared at each other. Could this possibly be
Level Seven? After all they had been through, the days of searching, could
this be the Seven Labyrinth after all? They both yelled at the same moment.
Running towards each other, they hugged, they jumped, and hollered louder
and louder.

"Well, Jason, shall we go and find out if this is what we're looking for?"
asked Link.

From far off they heard a voice calling: "Jason, it's time for supper, wash
your hands and come eat." Jason listened to his mother's words and moaned.

He turned to Link, started to say something, but the look on Link's face
stopped him.

Link was grinning. "What are you smiling at?" Jason demanded.

Link shrugged and said, "I was just wondering if we are going to have peanut
butter and jelly sandwiches for supper too."

"Ahh Link, be serious. We just found Level Seven, and now I have to go. How
can you think about sandwiches?" Jason yelled.

"Because, Jason, whenever you come back, I'll be here waiting for you. We
will discover the Seventh Level together. Without you, and your idea about
the music, I might never have found this labyrinth. I need you here with me
to help me save Princess Zelda. And both of us need your Mom's peanut butter
and jelly sandwiches to keep us going." Link grinned at Jason. Then he
slapped him on the back. "Go eat and then we will discover this place
together. Who knows what's waiting for us down there. We need all the
strength we can get. I think I'll take a nap until you get back."

Jason looked at Link and sighed. "I'll be back in a flash, so don't get too
comfortable."

"Jason," he heard his mother calling again. He yelled over his shoulder,
"I'm coming, Mom!" He turned back to Link and grinned, "See ya Link." He
pulled his way out of the TV and back to his own room. Once he was out, he
turned back to look at his friend. Link winked his eye at him, then sat on
the ground to wait. Jason put the game on pause and went to see what awaited
him at the dinner table.

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